Tone bar for stringed musical instruments



Dec. 31, 1935.

J. MIHALEK TONE BAR FOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed Dec. 13, 1934 INVENTCJ'R JOSEPH MIHALEK ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 31, 1935 UNIT STATES PATENT OFFICE TQNE BAR FOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 2 Claims.

My invention relates to bars for stringed musical instruments and has particular reference to bars used for playing on Hawaiian guitars and similar stringed instruments adapted to produce Hawaiian musical effect.

In Hawaiian stringed musical instruments the strings are raised above the finger board so that they cannot be pressed against the frets, at least without a much greater effort than in ordinary instruments. Different musical notes are produced instead by pressing a movable bar across the strings. All the strings are pressed at once so that either one string can be twanged at a time or all of them, a major chord being produced in the latter case.

The rendering of musical compositions on Hawaiian stringed instruments can often be greatly improved by the added use of minor chords. With ordinary bars it is very difiicult, however, to obtain at will either major or minor chords while a musical piece is being played. I discovered, however, that the Hawaiian bar can be improved by adding an extension or attachment for depressing one of the strings at a point nearer the end of the neck thereby lowering the note of this particular string so as to produce a minor chord when the strings are twanged. I make this extension in such shape that it conveniently fits under the players fingers while the bar is being held in his hand. By slightly varying the pressure on the minor extension, either major or minor chords can be played.

My invention is more fully described in the accompanying specification and drawing in which Fig. 1 is a partial perspective view of a Hawaiian guitar with my improved bar, Fig. 2 is a side view of my bar with the minor attachment, Fig. 3

' is an end View of the same, Fig. 4 is a top View of the same, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of my bar with the players hand over it shown with dotted lines.

My bar consists of a cylinder I which can be pressed by the players fingers against strings 2 of a guitar or similar stringed musical instrument 3. The strings are raised above frets 4 so that when the bar I is pressed against the strings the latter still do not touch the corresponding fret as shown in Fig. 3. The Hawaiian effect is then produced by moving or sliding the bar over the strings after the latter have been struck or twanged.

The bar I has a slot 5 with converging edges. The slot extends through a portion of the length of the bar, preferably so as to reach above the string Ct as shown in Fig. l. A finger piece or minor attachment 6 is slidably fitted in the slot 5 with its lug 7. The latter can be formed of a piece of flat metal by bending it as shown and pinching the sides so as to fit them under the converging edges of the slot 5. The longer end 5 of the attachment 6 is extended substantially straight and is bent at the end so as to touch the corresponding string when pressed by the players fingers. The distance between the points of contact with the strings of the bar I and the tip 10 of the attachment 9 is made equal to the distance between the frets where the minor chords are usually played. The other end of the attachment is curved and raised as shown so as to form a finger rest 8. The attachment can be easily removed if it is not intended to play minor chords.

The player, when using my bar, presses it lightly with his fingers as shown in Fig. 5, holding the vertical extension 8 between the middle and index fingers. By turning the bar over, the minor extensions (3 can be raised above the strings and rendered thereby inoperative. The bar then can be used as an ordinary Hawaiian bar for striking major chords only or single strings. By turning the bar in the other direction the extension 6 is brought to bear on the corresponding string Ct as shown depressing it below the bar I as shown in Fig. 3. The bar can be also, of course, manipulated by holding the vertical extension 3 between the forefinger and the thumb.

It will be seen that the use of the attachment 6 will reduce the sharp notes on the string C sharp to natural ones, thereby enabling the player to strike minor chords. For instance, if the bar is placed on the fret 5 as shown in Fig. 1, with the attachment 6 raised, the F sharp note will be produced on the string C sharp, or D major chord with all the strings played. By depressing the extension 6, F natural will be available, or D minor chord from all the strings.

My device can be modified, of course, without departing from the spirit of my invention. The bar, for instance, may have a different shape in cross-section, likewise the attachment may be modified in its shape or in its method of support on the bar.

I have found that the attachment 6 can be used for at least l3 frets, and in order to have the proper notes with shorter frets it is only necessary to press on the attachment harder.

I claim:

1. A tone bar for a stringed musical instrument, said bar being of a substantially rounded shape and provided with an open groove with converging edges, said groove extending from the end of said bar through a portion of its length, and a finger piece formed by bending a metal strip, one end of said strip being bent down and adapted to rest against one string, the other end being bent upward and adapted to form a rest for the players finger, the middle portion of said piece being curved into a loop and slidably fitted in said groove.

2. A tone bar for a stringed musical instrument, said bar being provided with an open groove with converging edges extending from the end of said bar through a portion of its length, and a finger piece having an enlargement at its middle portion slidably fitted in said groove and. retained by said converging edges, one end of said finger piece being bent down and adapted to rest against one string, the other end being bent upward and adapted to be held between the players fingers.

JOSEPH MII-IALEK. 

